Quaker Clearness & Discernment

Peterson T with a Quaker query on motivations

As we proceed with our initiatives, with our life choices,a helpful query might be, “Is this actio. response to fear, guilt and shame or does it rise out of friendship, love, and justice? Or somewha. muddled combination?”martin_kelley 2009-03-24T14:24:14Z

Ashley W wonders if we're still able to advise each other to wait

This meeting reminded me of the best parts of Quaker process. We worshiped together and listened and asked questions and tried to answer some. We also talked about how for Friends, feeling like God is telling you to do something is the first step, but it is crucial to test that leading in the community to see if others agree that the leading is truly from God.martin_kelley 2009-02-17T06:42:18Z

Quaking Harlot James on when way doesn't open, or we fight it's opening

I wish the way would open for me. Bu. thin. don’t let myself be open to the spirit or its whispering in my life. fight what whispers of the spirit do make their way to my ears and mind. take the easy path when it comes to work. go with what seems to b. stable job. sure bet. And usually. end up miserable.martin_kelley 2009-02-12T01:12:00Z

How'd Amy on the location of our "serious" work

may never forge. conversatio. had wit. Frien. few years ago. She'. lovely person and I'm sure would have been horrified to know how she hurt me. But she mentioned that she was attending several meetings looking fo. good fit. She said she'd immediately eliminate any meeting that had no one who attended Silver Bay (summer sessions) because that would mean they weren't serious Friends.martin_kelley 2009-02-03T02:50:32

Stumbling blocks Gil on the value of Facebook memes

For me writing lists of 25 random things about my life on Facebook is another way of sharing my spiritual journey and openin. window on my life. It is also, importantly. way of listening to others who are sharing their lives with me.martin_kelley 2009-02-03T02:30:35Z

Chris M. outlines some of the organizing tasks of a Friends clerk

They need some time to grapple with the spiritual nature of Friends decision-making, and how to apply it. In my experience, unprogrammed Friends meetings hav. great need for lists like this, especially because most of us don't have staff.martin_kelley 2008-11-23T15:13:44Z

Guest blogger Amy Baker on what really happens at Quaker worship

I also remember the ministry that was shared. To this da. turn over the words, the messages. At the tim. marveled at how accessible the message was -- simply spoken, grounded in personal experience, but related t. worldly outlook and t. spiritual challenge faced by the speaker. Some of the messages related directly to inner struggles of my own, not yet articulated.martin_kelley 2008-11-19T01:45:59Z

Sheffield Gordon on Quaker process and world business process

Whe. talk to people about Quakers and how they do business. make it very very clear indeed that the conventional model of chairperson and or executive is completely invalid. We have these seemingly anachronistic words for our key activities precisely for this reaso. they are only anachronistic by dint of minority usage.martin_kelley 2008-11-13T16:24:49Z

Micah B on leadings and the individual vs the group

For me, leaning on other children of light is essential for me being able to know God's will for my life. An indispensible part of the process tha. go through in seeking the will of God is bringing my leadings and concerns to other saints of Christ, my fellow ministers and elders.martin_kelley 2008-11-10T02:16:54Z

Peterson Toscano exorcise demons by recounting first Quaker visit while Pentacostal

Terror gripped us as we realized we had unwittingly entered enemy territory. We immediately branded these “Friends” as heretics placing them under the subcategory of New Agers, which was another way of saying demonically deceived and therefore spiritually toxic... These quiet Quaker threatened me and stirred up the fighting instinct drummed into me by my religious leaders. The fea. felt came from my ignorance though not from understanding.marti

Ian Graham, once liberal Friends' most energetic outreach campaigner, drifting off

I'm not very outwardly or inwardly quakerly these days. Mayb. should hang out o. blog somewhere and wail into the night with the rest. I'm still recorded in the ministry of chaplaincy in CYM. They don't do any oversight or support so what difference does that make!.. have sharply downscaled my involvement in my meeting, Hamilton, the outdoor camp (NeeKauNis) and certainly CYM. am now the youngest (at 54) regular attender at

Passionate Ashley on not taking on too much

Far too frequently. agree to do things because it seems lik. am the only one who can or will, bu. know that is not the best use of my time or talents. do intend to follow through with the commitment. have already made, bu. feel clear tha. should not take on any more.martin_kelley 2008-10-01T18:42:45Z

Qrthink Kevin wonders if it's really Quakerly to go slow

Sometime. think we go slowly because we have enshrined going slow as matter of human doctrine, not as divine direction. We have create. "Quaker style" that we are comfortable with, in the same way that the Orthodox Churches are known for "smells and bells," or the Epsicopalians for processions. But does our slowness come from God, or from our own preferences for an identifiable "tradition?"martin_kelley 2008-09-1

Sheffield Robert frustrated w/decision process of visited yearly meeting

I'm trying to breath deeply and hang on to shreds of patience. Yes, the points Friends are making are valid, sometimes crucial. This is the Quaker discernment process I've read about and admired, bu. hadn't realized how painful it can be to sit through. I'm not much o. praying man, bu. pray now for patience. spiritual lubricant to get us through the friction of labouring over these issues.martin_kelley 2008-08-18T20:08

Brooklyn Rich: what if Bonhoeffer had been Quaker?

Imagine that as he considered the possibility of trying to assassinate Hitler he had asked fo. Clearness Committee from his Meeting. What do we think would have been the result?martin_kelley 2008-07-11T20:37:11Z